Metal oxides, more generally termed ceramic oxides, are typically made by high-temperature processes, such as kiln-firing. The resultant materials are very dense and possess specific surface areas well below 1 m.sup.2 /g. Certain applications, such as catalysis and adsorption, require metal oxides which have higher surface areas, i.e., 10 m.sup.2 /g or higher. While many techniques exist to produce such high surface area materials (e.g., precipitation methods, sol-gel techniques, spray pyrolysis, etc.), all are limited in their ability to produce support materials which retain their high surface area after extended thermal treatments at temperatures in excess of 1050.degree. C. Automotive exhaust catalysts, in particular, require metal oxide support materials for both the active noble metals and other metal additives. Typically metal oxides such as ceria, or ceria mixed with other oxides such as zirconia, praseodymia, and lanthana, are also used in automotive catalyst supports as oxygen storage components because of their ability to supply oxygen for converting pollutant species such as carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons through a cyclic reduction-oxidation process. Historically, it has been very difficult to prepare such mixed oxides which retain &gt;10 m.sup.2 /g BET surface area after extended aging in automotive exhaust-type gas mixtures at temperatures of 1050.degree. C. or higher for extended periods of time (10 hours or more). High specific surface area is a desirable property for materials such as adsorbents and catalysts because of the dependence of these processes on interfacial contact area between the metal oxide and the gas or liquid phase in contact. In automotive catalysis, the metal oxide support phases also have the desirable characteristic of aiding in the dispersion of the active noble metals as very small particles (typically 5 nm or less when fresh). However, automotive catalysts are often subjected to very high operating temperatures which, over time, result in growth (i.e., sintering) of both the noble metals and the underlying metal oxide support phase with concomitant loss of surface area. Similarly, the property of oxygen storage, which is a cooperative phenomenon between the reducible metal oxide and the noble metals, also decreases dramatically upon sintering of the noble metal and metal oxide materials. Consequently, it is desirable to produce metal oxide materials, suitable as both support phases and oxygen storage agents, which can be used in automotive exhaust and other catalytic applications where temperatures can exceed 1050.degree. C., without the surface area decreasing to levels below 10 m.sup.2 /g, and more preferably, retaining surface area ca 20 m.sup.2 /g or higher. Additionally, for automotive catalysis, it is desirable to produce supporting oxides with a pore structure largely in the mesoporous regime. This mid-size pore range allows for easy access of the reacting gases to the catalyst surface, yet the pores are still small enough that substantial surface area is retained. The present invention has been found to meet those objectives through the use of crystalline or micro-crystalline, structured porous organic templating materials which impart desirable thermal stability and porosity to the resultant metal oxide powders.